A plane flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted this Wednesday (30) to Saudi Arabia due to a fight between the crew, in an incident that is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism.
According to the EFE agency, the Israeli Ministry of Transport reported that Israeli security authorities are managing the incident, which occurred on a FlyDubai company plane.
According to a passenger’s statement to the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post, the confusion occurred when one of the aircraft’s pilots attacked the other in mid-flight.
Israeli Channel 12 reported that one of the pilots is being questioned to find out whether his intention was to take over the plane and crash it with the passengers.
Two Israeli government officials and an Israeli source familiar with the situation told American broadcaster CNN that the country’s authorities suspect the incident may have been an attempted terrorist attack.
One of the officials stated that information obtained by Israeli authorities indicates that the co-pilot was restrained by an Israeli passenger after stabbing the aircraft’s pilot.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled his schedule to hold consultations with the country’s top security officials about the incident, the CNN source reported. The attacker was a citizen of Oman, according to the American broadcaster’s findings.
In a post on X, Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s Minister of National Security, said that it was an attack.
“The naive notion that our enemies value life and deserve our compassion received yet another grim reminder this morning in the form of a terrorist who planned to shoot down a plane and murder the 180 Israelis on board,” he wrote.
Hours after the incident, Netanyahu spoke about the matter in a video address. “During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other,” said the prime minister. “Apparently he tried to crash the plane with the occupants on board.”
“I spoke to one of the Israeli passengers. He told me that the plane went into a tailspin and began to dive. He said that, somehow, he managed to invade the cockpit with one of the crew and, together, they neutralized the pilot who had committed the attack, while he was trying to sabotage the aircraft’s systems,” said Netanyahu.
“Another crew member who was on the plane entered the cabin and managed to stabilize the aircraft,” he added.
On the plane’s route from Dubai to Tabuk, in Saudi Arabia, published by the flight monitoring page Flightradar24, it is seen how, before crossing the border into Jordan, the plane, which was heading from east to west, made a sharp turn to the north and lost altitude.
The plane then flew at a lower altitude following an irregular trajectory, until, upon reaching the border with Jordan, it turned around, headed south and then headed towards Tabuk.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the incident was under control and that the necessary measures were being taken for the safe return of Israeli passengers to Israel.
In a statement, FlyDubai described what happened as an “incident”, without detailing the cause, ensuring that the plane landed without problems at Tabuk airport and that all passengers were safe.